People treating the news that schools are cancelling AP classes as if it’s completely normal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Oooo. So Orwellian.

Eek. I don’t think you understand what “Orwellian” means.

That poster perfectly grasps what Orwellian means. Their grasp is Double Plus Good as you might say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

“Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes”. Brilliant analysis. Brilliant.

They probably did this because they have more demand for AP than available slots. I’m sure there are kids who are motivated to take AP classes but do not care to put in any effort into PARC tests. Also AP classes are easy and everyone should try them.

That’s not the reason. The reason is the glaring racial gap of who attends ap classes. And so, to engineer a purported outcome of equity they’ve opened ap classes to both remedial and advanced learners thus watering down the curriculum for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I taking crazy pills or does anyone else think it’s a bad idea? How is canceling AP classes in DC and Virginia advancing the cause of eradicating racism and promoting racial equity? You are holding student back to raise others, but it’s more like crabs in a bucket.

AP classes are not a Great Equalizer. The value of AP, IB or any honors program is how well students students are taught. This should be reflected in scores/grades.

There are many ways to provide rigorous college prep learning opportunities.

AP itself has tangible value IF you score 3 or higher on the test and IF the college you're applying to gives credit for AP. Not all do.

Taking an AP class without doing well on the exam might work against your application. The college might think you overextended yourself. More Black and Hispanic students are taking AP classes, but the exam scores show a persistent gap with white students.

The only guaranteed benefit of AP is the revenue it brings to the College Board.

Students deserve the most effective classes. Not just the most heavily marketed ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

“Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes”. Brilliant analysis. Brilliant.

They probably did this because they have more demand for AP than available slots. I’m sure there are kids who are motivated to take AP classes but do not care to put in any effort into PARC tests. Also AP classes are easy and everyone should try them.

The proportion of students who take AP tests and get at least a 3 in one of them at DCPS is only 35%. At Wilson it's 77%, which is better but not exactly a number which screams "we should push a lot more kids into this." If you have an educational background that's never exposed you to kids who struggle to do even grade-level work, cool, but there are lots of those kids out there. Making them take advanced classes - because, yes, this is about making them take them, not allowing them to take them - is not a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody is canceling AP classes in DC. Wilson is requiring all kids in 11th grade take AP English and AP US History and people are freaking out about it because they assume (without evidence) that this means it won't be a "real" AP class. Of course, it will, because the College Board has to approve the curriculum/syllabus in order for it to be an AP class.

It's an effort to deal with a substantial segregation issue at Wilson with regard to which kids take AP classes and which don't. If it is to be successful, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to supporting some of these kids and it's not clear that they have a plan for doing so but time will tell. But MANY people are assuming it will be a disaster without giving it a chance.

Oh, so they’re not canceling the ap classes? They’re just open to anyone, even students who are not prepared for advanced placement classes. So essentially they’re keeping the name, so you’re right, technically. Normally when I see a duck, and it walks and quacks like a duck, I assume it’s a duck. Now I’ve learned that’s a racist interpretation and that in fact a chicken can be a duck.

Anyway, more on potential outcomes: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/magazine/who-benefits-from-the-expansion-of-ap-classes.html

That article was interesting. I don’t think it’s evidence for not offering APs for all who want them but it is a wake up call about the tough job it is/will be with expansion. I’d be more interested in the grades kids receive rather than just the scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I taking crazy pills or does anyone else think it’s a bad idea? How is canceling AP classes in DC and Virginia advancing the cause of eradicating racism and promoting racial equity? You are holding student back to raise others, but it’s more like crabs in a bucket.

AP classes are not a Great Equalizer. The value of AP, IB or any honors program is how well students students are taught. This should be reflected in scores/grades.

There are many ways to provide rigorous college prep learning opportunities.

AP itself has tangible value IF you score 3 or higher on the test and IF the college you're applying to gives credit for AP. Not all do.

Taking an AP class without doing well on the exam might work against your application. The college might think you overextended yourself. More Black and Hispanic students are taking AP classes, but the exam scores show a persistent gap with white students.

The only guaranteed benefit of AP is the revenue it brings to the College Board.

Students deserve the most effective classes. Not just the most heavily marketed ones.

Nice tag line, but not all AP classes are the same, not all are taught the same, even the content can vary, even between two teachers at the same school. The CB has to approve the curriculum, but there are many ways to create that curriculum. So you can have the most effective classes AND get the curriculum for it AP approved. You can also have a class that is basically a Princeton Review and get it approved too. similarly, a teacher may not cover the whole approved curriculum or may go beyond it depending on the students.

[Anonymous]

Serious question- are colleges going to have to “detrack” and only offer 101 level classes?

[Anonymous]

The old policy was anyone who wanted to could take AP.

The new police is *everyone* *will* take AP.

Some of the PPs are rambling on about the old policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The old policy was anyone who wanted to could take AP.

The new police is *everyone* *will* take AP.

Some of the PPs are rambling on about the old policy.

Then it’s not a real ap class. Can we just say our loud that putting poorly performing students with advanced students is not a good idea? Isn’t this obvious to everyone? Can’t they just critically reason in their minds about what the ultimate ramifications will be? Less qualified students, more kids leaving to go private causing more brain drain in public schools, and ultimately a less prepared country to handle the rigors of the 21st century. And then we have posters on here using euphemisms and clinical, sterile jargon and buzzwords to frame these changes.

[Anonymous]

AP sets the curriculum. That doesn’t mean the curriculum gets presented well or in full.

[Anonymous]

Some of my kids' best elementary & middle school teachers differentiated their lessons to the kids at the lowest and highest levels and everyone advanced...why can't this work at the AP level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of my kids' best elementary & middle school teachers differentiated their lessons to the kids at the lowest and highest levels and everyone advanced...why can't this work at the AP level?

Because then it's not an AP class. The AP curriculum is supposed to be the minimum taught. That is frankly not compatible with meeting the needs of the lowest performers, some of whom read 5 grade levels behind. It's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of my kids' best elementary & middle school teachers differentiated their lessons to the kids at the lowest and highest levels and everyone advanced...why can't this work at the AP level?

Because then it's not an AP class. The AP curriculum is supposed to be the minimum taught. That is frankly not compatible with meeting the needs of the lowest performers, some of whom read 5 grade levels behind. It's insane.

Exactly. At a certain point, kids who can do more advanced work should be given the opportunity to do more advanced work, without the teacher being distracted by having to accommodate other kids. That’s what tracking is for, and by the time kids get to high school, tracking is entirely appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Oooo. So Orwellian.

Eek. I don’t think you understand what “Orwellian” means.

That poster perfectly grasps what Orwellian means. Their grasp is Double Plus Good as you might say.

Why are only some people brilliant? Isn't everyone brilliant, if you really think about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Oooo. So Orwellian.

Eek. I don’t think you understand what “Orwellian” means.

That poster perfectly grasps what Orwellian means. Their grasp is Double Plus Good as you might say.

Why are only some people brilliant? Isn't everyone brilliant, if you really think about it?

No one is equally brilliant, though we can all potentially be brilliant in different ways. All humans are born with different gifts that should be explored and enhanced, imo, but we need a government that is willing to do that for them. Problem is, the kids who are born with the potential to be really good at certain academic subjects...DCPS not care so much.